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History of the Community Newspapers
Silicon Valley Community Newspapers publishes eight weekly community
newspapers in Santa Clara County. At one time, the company was a part
of Metro Newspapers, but became a completely independent company in December
2001 when David Cohen, who co-founded Metro in 1985, bought out his business
partners and became publisher/CEO of the Community Newspapers.
Our eight weekly newspapers reach more than 155,000 homes in specific
geographic areas of the valley with news specific to that area. Our coverage
includes local schools, youth sports, business, law enforcement, features
and community profiles as well as the impact of local government on the
community. In each of our weekly newspapers, our opinion pages serve as
a forum for community dialogue about local issues.
Each of our newspapers is committed to coverage that is "fiercely
local" within each circulation area. Our eight community newspapers
are: the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Saratoga News, Cupertino Courier, Sunnyvale
Sun, Campbell Reporter, Willow Glen Resident, Rose Garden Resident and
Almaden Resident. Each has its own history:
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Los Gatos Weekly-Times
With a heritage dating back to 1881, the Weekly-Times is a key
player in the business, cultural and political life of this active community. Our
association with the paper dates back to 1982, when Metro co-founder Dan
Pulcrano founded the Los Gatos Weekly.
Meanwhile, another newsweekly in Los Gatos, the Times Observer,
was sold to the Meredith Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa, which transferred
ownership to Meredith executive Terrence Donnelly of Los Angeles in 1986.
In May 1988, Peninsula Community Newspapers, a subsidiary of the Tribune
Company of Chicago, purchased the newspaper group.
In 1988, looking to focus on the booming market in San Jose, Metro
sold the Weekly to Los Gatos businessmen Joe White and Joseph Shulman.
Two years later, the owners of both papers were looking to sell. Metro
Newspapers bought the Weekly back from the local businessmen, and purchased
the Los Gatos Times Observer from the Peninsula group. The Los Gatos Weekly-Times
was launched in March 1990.
The Weekly-Times has since become a local resource treasured by
its community of readers. It has won numerous awards, including two highly
coveted General Excellence awards from the California Newspaper Publishers
Association.
Back to top Saratoga News
Saratoga-one of the Santa Clara Valley's oldest cities-is tucked
against the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, a short drive from
the redwoods and a shorter drive from the heart of the high-tech industry.
The Saratoga News is a vital part of the local civic and business
community. The newspaper was founded in 1955 by Sherman Miller, who operated
the paper for 18 years, until its 1973 sale to the Cupertino-based Sun
Newspaper group. The Sun chain was acquired in 1978 by the Meredith Corporation,
and along with the Los Gatos Times Observer, changed hands again when
the Peninsula group acquired the chain. Metro bought the Saratoga News
from Peninsula in 1990.
In 2000, the Saratoga News was recognized by the California Newspaper Publishers Association as a "newspaper of general excellence.
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Willow Glen Resident
Joseph Guerra founded the Willow Glen Resident in this San Jose
neighborhood in 1987, and it immediately became an important part of the
local community. The Resident was published monthly for four years, until
it was acquired by Metro Newspapers in December 1991. It was converted
to a weekly in 1992.
Like our other community newspapers, the Willow Glen Resident is
"fiercely local," and its coverage of citywide news takes a
local perspective for residents and those who do business in the Willow
Glen neighborhood.
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Sunnyvale Sun
When the Valley Journal, Sunnyvale's longtime weekly newspaper,
was closed on March 12, 1993, by the Tribune Company of Chicago, Metro
acted quickly-announcing the launch of the Sunnyvale Sun less than two
weeks later. The then-city manager and president of the Chamber of Commerce
welcomed us, saying they wanted a paper like the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.
In late 2003, we doubled the circulation of The Sun to 36,600,
ensuring wide coverage of this diverse community with a publication that
has become a "must-read" newspaper whose Letters to the Editor
section has become a lively forum for local issues.
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Cupertino Courier
The Cupertino Courier was founded in 1947 and published until 1978
by Cupertino resident Mort Levine, who sold it to the Meredith Corporation.
The Courier was acquired in 1986 by Meredith executive Terrence Donnelly,
who sold it to the Tribune Co. in 1988.
Meanwhile, armed with the lessons it had learned from the successes
of its three other community weeklies, Metro founded the Cupertino Neighbor
in 1993. Metro purchased the Courier in 1995 and merged it with the Neighbor.
In recent years, the Courier has become respected for its role in helping
bring together this highly diverse community to better communicate concerns
brought about by the dramatic demographic changes that have seen the city's
Asian population jump to nearly 50 percent of the community in just a
short time.
In the summer of 2003, the Courier sponsored a community forum
called "A Time to Talk," specifically to bring residents together
to discuss issues related to race. One spin-off of that forum, attended
by 150 residents, was a new Courier column called "Bridging the Cultural
Gap," which explains different cultural responses to such ordinary
situations as how to welcome a new resident to the neighborhood.
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The Campbell Reporter
In March 1999, we added our sixth weekly community newspaper, the
Campbell Reporter.
We arrived on the scene in Campbell in the midst of that city's
ambitious redevelopment plan, and we have been both cheerleader and, when
appropriate, critic of that process.When the city's new Heritage Theatre-the
renovated Campbell High School auditorium-opened on Valentine's Day 2004,
the Campbell Reporter hailed the opening with a big, themed section that
looked at every aspect of the project from the school alumni who were
its biggest supporters, to the performance schedule. This kind of special
attention to things that matter to our readers has made the Campbell Reporter
a trusted source of local news in Campbell.
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Rose Garden Resident
On May 8, 2003, we launched our second "Resident," this
time serving the greater Rose Garden area of San Jose, an area bordered
roughly by Highway 880 and W. San Carlos Street and Stockton and Winchester.
The Rose Garden debuted to an enthusiastic readership. From the start,
we heard from our readers that they were excited to finally have their
own community newspaper.
Residents of the greater Rose Garden area are proud of their heritage
and their diversity, and they were eager to share their stories with us.By
August of that year, we were able to add a sports section to our coverage
of school, community and neighborhood news.
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Almaden Resident
We launched our third "Resident," covering the Almaden
Valley area of San Jose on Oct. 16, 2003. Like our other newspapers, the
Almaden Resident is "fiercely local," focusing on the issues
and concerns of the neighborhood.
Because schools and youth sports are of particular interest to Almaden
Valley residents, this paper leans heavily on these areas of coverage.
We also cover news about the city of San Jose with particular emphasis
on how city decisions will affect our Almaden Valley readers.
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